Public library uniforms
11Oct07
Private Eye reported the anger of some residents that a local authority had spent £34K on uniforms, asking why that money could not have been spent on books.
Hillingdon is to introduce uniforms, spending some of the vaunted savings from their restructuring on it. This will cost at least £30k and probably a lot more. This is part of an overall ‘rebranding’ which no doubt has cost a fair bit.
Why can’t that money be spent on books?
Filed under: Public libraries |
I do wonder if it would have been possible to spend the money on books.
I dont know how budgeting works in the public sector, but certainly in academic libraries the budgets are often set by people so high up that the idea of spending the money on books is potentially overlooked in the grand scheme of things, or the funding has come from somewhere that means it can only be spent on certain things.
We are currently undergoing refurbishment for example, and the money for that could never have been spent on books because it has been granted to us for the purposes of refurbishment and nothing else.
I see the frustration, but I suppose it depends on the situation the budget was set. And perhaps they have evidence to suggest that rebranding, and uniforms will ultimately bring in more people than better better book stock. Once the people are there, then the book stock may follow????
Katharine,
I agree on the budgeting thing.
As for refurbs, on the whole they are a good thing- if done well. But uniforms? I am not so sure